Historical records about the Criterion all tell  that the Criterion was a hotel until 1904 and then leap forward in time from 1924 to 1949 when the property was held by Leonard Denyer Niehus who operated it as “The Temperance Hotel” (no alcohol apparently).

Then out of nowhere we received an email to the house email that answered the mystery.  Hugh must have googled the Criterion and found our website.

Hello. I am the grandson of Hugh Jackson who had “The Criterion Coffee Palace” in Robe which was in the building you now occupy. I have attached a photo that I thought you might find interesting & please feel free to use it if you want to .

I’m not sure when they ( Hugh & Martha) started the Coffee Palace but they were married in 1904 so some time after that. Hugh had a workshop next door & after his death in 1920 Martha is said to have turned it into 4 bedrooms for boarders.

My father Lorentz told me that after school he often went down to the shore to gather crayfish to be used for boarders meals (I bet they have to go a bit further than that to get them now).

I think the family left Robe in about 1922. Regards Malcolm

I remember as a kid, locals used to refer to cray as “sea lice”.  Dad used to buy cray tails for bait! It seems only the ‘spider’ – body and legs – got exported.